Agenda item

The Council considered a report of the Head of Legal and Democratic Services which advised of the outcome of the second consultation as part of the Community Governance Review of Pelton Fell (for copy see file of Minutes).

In Movingthe report, Councillor A Napier, Portfolio Holder for Finance informed the Council that the consultation response had been discussed by the Constitution Working Group but the recommendation had not received cross-party support.  Although 133 responses had not been accepted by the Monitoring Officer, and details of this were given in the report, the Council should not lose sight of the work undertaken by the Pelton Fell Community Partnership in promoting a Community Council for Pelton Fell. It was incumbent on Councils to promote democracy, and the cost of approximately £1,000 to re-run the consultation was worth paying to achieve this.

Councillor C Marshall Seconded approval of the report.

Councillor Martin informed Council that to re-run the consultation in the same way as previously was not the best way to undertake the exercise.  A formal referendum, which would cost no more than the consultation exercise, should be undertaken.  This was the best way forward for this case and should be considered as an option for future Community Governance Reviews.  Councillor Martin Moved an amendment to the recommendation in the report to remove the words ‘as set out in paragraphs 25 and 26’ and replace these with ‘by means of a formal referendum of voters’ at recommendation (i) and to remove recommendation (ii) completely.

Councillor O Temple Seconded the amendment.  He informed the Council that he had read the report with some alarm, with both the Pelton Fell Community Partnership complaining about the decision to not consider some of the returns and one local elector believing there had been some impropriety.  There was a reputational risk to the Council if the consultation was re-run in the same format.

Councillor C Marshall informed Council that the amendment was a major deviation from the parameters in the report and the review, and any policy changes such as this should be considered by the Constitution Working Group.  Councillor Napier added that each household would receive a consultation document as part of the re-run consultation.

Upon a vote being taken the Amendment was lost.

Upon a further vote being taken, It was

Resolved:

That the recommendations contained in the report be approved..